Undercover Rose
Chapter 88

Copyright© 2013 by carniegirl

After a few more weeks the work was moving along. Buddy and I made small sample batches of the Tea, while local men worked on the building across the street and were supervised by Buddy. They worked on restoring the building under the watchful eyes of various government inspectors. We got inspected once a week it seemed. The various government agencies wanted to be sure they didn't miss anything, which we might cover over, if left to our own devices.

During those weeks I used the Aluminum walker on wheels to make the walk of a half block to the Cafe. I was very proud of myself for being able to hop that far, since at first I couldn't put any weight on the leg at all. The pain was too great without the narcotics.

Toward the end of the renovation I stopped the narcotics after the ten day regimen. I was doing pretty well and walking much better. I still needed to sit after less than fifteen minutes but I was making it work. Since the walker had a built in seat I could go longer distances.

Even so Buddy got tired of my bitching. After the formulating then cooking tea experiments, Buddy would take off on my trike. First he made sure I had everything I needed, then he just left. He stayed gone two or three hours. It was usually in the afternoon. He always stopped by to see how the contractors were doing before he returned home.

After the first week the mechanical contractor had the boiler working, so that we had hot water and radiator heat in the old building. The boiler had already been converted to gas, so it required no more than a good cleaning and testing of the relief valves. Buddy got the job of going into the basement once a month to check then fill the boiler's closed water system.

"Well I now have a job," Buddy said. "I'm going to be the water boy."

"I'm going to have to call you Gunga Din," I suggested gleefully.

"Easy on that tea Rose," Buddy said with a laugh. "Well I checked on our paint contractor," he said after three more weeks, "They finally have all the interior painting and sealing done. All we need now is to get the equipment in and the materials warehoused."

"We need to talk about that," I said. "Cause we also need to start an advertising campaign."

"Yeah what do we need to do first, in your opinion that is?" Buddy asked.

"First of all you and I need to come to an understanding. You have been doing most of the work, but I'm getting better. I can walk across the street and into the building, so I can supervise workers. Okay maybe not tomorrow but someday soon. So we need to decide on the division of labor. That is if you are staying," I said.

"Are you sure you want to have this discussion now?" he asked.

"Yes, I am not sure that I can get this operation up and running as efficiently without you. Certainly not as quickly but if you want to leave, I can make it happen," I said. "I owe you big time, don't get me wrong."

"Okay are you through talking?" Buddy asked.

"Yes Buddy, I'm through," I said.

"I don't want to stay and help you for nothing of course. And I can go back to my old job if it's working for wages you have in mind. I will stay and help out for twenty five percent of the profits, if there ever are any. That is option one," he said.

"Okay what is option two?" I asked.

"Option two is I give you half of everything you have invested here, and provide half the capital going forward. In exchange you make me a forty eight percent owner," he said. "You keep control since it's your vision."

"Okay I have about a hundred grand in it so far. You are telling me you will put up fifty now and put up half the operating cost for a forty eight percent ownership stake and half the profits when there are some profits?" I asked.

"Exactly," he said.

"Tell me how deep are your pockets?" I asked.

"I will match you dollar for dollar up to two hundred grand," he said. "But by then it has to show a profit or I'm going to sell my share."

"Give me first option on your share of the business, then we are a go," I said.

"Would you mind if Rita draws the contract?" he asked.

"Your excuse to have her fly back to see you?" I asked.

"Yeah, she is good in bed, what can I say?" he asked.

"I am not going to touch that," I agreed. "Just to change the subject, I have been negotiating with a restaurant equipment distributor in Mobile. There is a five thousand dollar grinder he is about to repossess. It sounds as though it will chop half a bale at once."

"Considering the chopping is only a two minute job, sounds like too much capacity," Buddy said.

"Well we can use it once a day for now and grow into it," I suggested. "If we go pick it up, he will give it to us for two grand as is."

"So you were going to buy it sight unseen?" Buddy asked.

"No we go down pick it up for him then take it to his shop and do the final negotiations. There shouldn't be much to it," I suggested.

"If nothing else, I force him to pay us for repoing it," I explained.

"What is the guy who has it now doing with it," Buddy asked.

"He is making fish meal," I said.

"Do you have any idea what kind of condition this thing might be in?" buddy asked.

"Yeah, but it can be cleaned I'm sure," I said.

"If we have to whoop his ass, you are going to be less than useless," Buddy stated flatly.

"I think I can still hold a shotgun," I said.

"How much does the thing weigh?" Buddy asked.

"Details, details," I replied.

Long as you know someone has to help me load it," Buddy replied.

"The man said to take a tool kit. It comes apart each of the three pieces weigh less than a hundred pounds," I explained.

"Okay, I'm in, but do you think you can ride that far in the truck?" Buddy asked.

"Only way to know is to do it," I suggested.

"It's at least a couple of hours in a bouncing truck. But if you are up to it, we can carry your walker in back. You are doing a little better with it now, so maybe we can do it," Buddy said.

"Buddy, we need to stop by and get the paperwork on the way. It's only a few miles from the office park where the fish meal plant is located," I informed him. "Well partner we have one more thing to discuss before I go to bed."

"Oh what is that?" he asked.

"Unless you want to sweep the floors at the plant we need someone to work there doing that much at least," I informed him.

"There are probably a lot more things he or she can do for us," he said. "I'm talking business here. We are going to need someone to be the handy man or woman while we manage."

"That is what I'm thinking as well. So I was also thinking why not hold off on the trip till we have someone who can help you load the damn thing. My truck has those jump seats," I said. We could take one more person along to help you get the machine out of the building and to take it apart. We just might have trouble with the present owner as well."

The truck I bought had a hell of a lot bigger cab than anything I had owned previously. It also had a short bed so it was still maneuverable on the back roads around Mossberg.

I bought it from an old woman, whose husband had died. They bought the truck because that's what country folks did when they retired. It had 60,000 miles on it. Except for a few dings in the bed it was perfect. Of course the paint was ruined from constant exposure to the sun for five years. It also had lost a lot of paint due to red dirt that blew like a sandblaster whenever a strong wind came through. My point was that it was a good size, and in good shape, but it just wasn't especially attractive'

"Do you have someone in mind to hire?" Buddy asked.

"Maybe I can get someone tonight with a few phone calls," I said. "But we need to start making them now," I suggested.

"Why now since it's 7 PM?" he asked.

"Miss Sadie has a hundred nieces and nephews. If she recommends one of them, we will know all about them before they start work. We can also try them out before we actually hire them to work in the plant," I explained.

"Okay, make the call, we shouldn't need him more than for the morning. Say a hundred bucks absolute maximum," he said.

"I was thinking ten bucks an hour cash in their pocket," I suggested. "We can call it casual labor."

"Do it," he suggested.

I called Miss Sadie. She called one of her sons. "He has a teenager who can't get a job, even with his high school diploma. He was working odd jobs till something in Mobile comes open," she informed me.

"Well let me know if he is interested in a few hours work tomorrow at $10 an hour. It's mostly going to be riding in a truck over to Mobile then loading some machinery. I'm still not able to help Mr. Baker with it," I explained. "If he is interested tell him to be at my shop no later than 8 AM tomorrow but I need someone."

Miss Sadie called back a half hour later. "I got you a body, but it ain't my grandson. It's a cousin's daughter. I know you need someone who can lift. She works on her daddy's farm in the summer loading hay and stuff. She is a senior in high school but has tomorrow off. Some kind of teacher work day or such. Should I tell her she is hired?" Sadie asked.

"Sure, long as she is used to hard work," I agreed

"We got our body," I said to Buddy. She is going to be here at 8 AM, so we can be in Mobile sometime after 10 AM."

"Let's do it then," he said.

"Sounds like a plan," I said before laying on the sofa bed. The one Baker had wrestled down the open stairs for me. I wrapped myself in the blanket and fell immediately to sleep. I didn't even start the computer that night.

The next morning, I walked out to the car with some help from my walker. I found myself leaning on it and listing to the right. I seemed to be lugging around an aluminum room just to lean on one wall. It was time to trade the walker for a single crutch or a cane. Something to make me even more mobile. I vowed to look into it while in mobile since they would have more options.

We had a sausage and egg biscuit at the Dairy Queen, then returned home where I sat on the sofa until Hannah came. Hannah on first sight might have been the least attractive woman I had seen in years. She was even less attractive than Sylvia Porter. She also struck me as being a stone cold lesbian. Her short hair and stocky muscular body just screamed "Dyke". I didn't feel threatened, I just wanted to be sure she could handle the heavy work that we had planned for her.

 
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